Crew Cuts: Berhalter discusses plans for young players

Tuesday

Feb 14, 2017 at 10:14 PMFeb 14, 2017 at 10:14 PM

Coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter has acknowledged the value of having a young core of players. What is less clear is how many will eventually see the field for Crew SC and how long it will take them to earn playing time.

Andrew Erickson The Columbus Dispatch @AEricksonCD

With the addition of Artur to the Crew SC roster on Monday, the Crew has eight players who are under contract and under the age of 23.

Coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter has acknowledged the value of having a young core of players. What is less clear is how many will eventually see the field for Crew SC and how long it will take them to earn playing time.

The Crew enters the 2017 season with what appears to be a surplus in its central midfield, opening up the possibility for two or three players to be loaned to other clubs, Berhalter said Monday.

“We have a number of central midfielders. I think they fall into different categories. We have the developmental group and the group that we expect to be on the field,” Berhalter said. “They have different demands and different needs.”

Needs are different even among the players likely to be loaned out. Berhalter said the United Soccer League (USL) and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds will likely make a suitable landing spot for 20-year-old midfielder Abuchi Obinwa, whose primary professional experience has come in the U-19 Bundesliga, and 19-year-old homegrown midfielder Ben Swanson. Rodrigo Saravia, entering his second season with the Crew, might need a “different type of challenge,” Berhalter said.

There are benefits to developing talent in-house in a league experiencing an increase in talent and an increase in costs associated with acquiring players from abroad. But the lack of a direct pipeline to the Crew limits the scope of the team’s ability to incubate talent.

“I think, if you look at what teams have been doing with their USL teams, it’s common that they have a young core that they can develop and get them games at the USL level and then eventually bring into the first team,” Berhalter said. “I think Red Bull has done a good job of that, LA’s done a good job of that, so you know, we have a little bit different setup because we don’t have a USL team, so we have to look for other ways. I don’t think we can be that deep with our young players due to the roster size, but we’ll still try to have them on board and have them developing.”

Throughout the week, the youngsters will keep coming. Alex Crognale, Niko Hansen and Lalas Abubakar practiced Tuesday after returning from the MLS Rookie Symposium Monday night.

First look at D Lalas Abubakar on defense for #CrewSC pic.twitter.com/TN3kx2C3Ds

— Andrew Erickson (@AEricksonCD) February 14, 2017

Berhalter said Tuesday he expects Artur to join the team for the Carolina Challenge Cup. Midfielder Cristian Martinez remains on international duty with Panama’s U-20 team.

Crognale reflects on symposium

Said Crognale of the symposium, held in Arizona: “I thought it was good. I think I got out of it what I wanted to. Picked up a few things. They had some good speakers come in and so I thought it was good. I think it’s a good thing for rookies to experience something like that before going into the pro environment to get tips from guys who have been there and who have lived it and succeeded, so I thought it was good.”

Big thanks to the @MLS for the hospitality and helpful advice this weekend at the rookie symposium! @ColumbusCrewSC #MLSrookies #crewsc pic.twitter.com/2uqLJiYThi

— Alex Crognale (@alexcrognale) February 13, 2017

Crognale said the experience gave him an understanding of what to expect during a rookie MLS season: a few ups and downs.

The 6-foot-4 Gahanna native has experience with a possession style from his time as a defender at Maryland, but said the Crew takes it to another level. He’s still developing his decision-making when it comes to either dumping or keeping the ball on the back line.

Along with building a possession-heavy mindset, much of the rookie experience requires patience and an understanding that growth will come.

“I mean, in Brazil they were throwing a ton of information at us, so it’s just being patient every day,” Crognale said. “It’s not going to be perfect and you know as a pro you need to understand that. So staying patient and staying positive I think helps.”

Asked what he expects to get out of his 2017 season, Crognale said it’s a bit of a loaded question.

“As a first-year, you want to get in with the guys and create relationships with your teammates and hopefully get on the field and contribute any way I can,” he said.

Charleston awaits

Crew SC will head to Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday before playing its first match in the Carolina Challenge Cup against Atlanta United on Saturday.

Well, its first originally scheduled match.

Berhalter said the Crew will also play a Saturday morning game against Coastal Carolina to allow more of the roster to get playing time over the course of the day. He said he expects a mixed lineup in a game next Wednesday against the Charleston Battery and a lineup that will look similar to his opening day lineup next Saturday against the Seattle Sounders.

“Part of the message to the guys next week, or at the end of this week, is going to be, ‘There’s still positions up for grabs,’” Berhalter said. “We’re going to be evaluating closely in particular the first two games of the Charleston trip to finalize the lineup based on how guys are performing and I would expect the last lineup in Charleston to be pretty close to how we start the season.”

Roster compliance

MLS expects its 2017 roster compliance date to be March 1, three days before Crew SC's opening match against the Chicago Fire. Including Artur, the Crew currently has 10 international players for eight allotted spots.

@AEricksonCD

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